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Tweet, Tweet, Tweet . . .

The whole world is aflutter with tweets these days. Some attacking, some informing. Some bullying, some encouraging. Some transparent, others obfuscating. Some trolling, some genuine. Many purposefully attracting attention.

Those written to garner headlines unfortunately never fail to do so, from the original tweet to the ever-present multitude of pithy and often biting responses. Regardless of which side of the current political divide we find ourselves on, many find this behavior troublesome at best, defaming of our country at worst.

Yet we continue to read and respond, easily manipulated by those pulling the strings. The more we cry “foul” the more we continue to engage, becoming addicted to the outrageous, the unthinkable, the whims of politicians, celebrities, anyone in the public eye.

Is there an antidote? A way out of the rabbit hole? Of course! There always is. We just need to find it, pursue it, and cultivate it.

Last week I could not listen to one more piece of Breaking News. So I escaped to my own backyard and took a print book instead of my ever-present iPad with Kindle app.

As I read the book in my hands and turned the pages, savoring the feel of them, I gradually began to notice the sounds of nature all around me. All God’s creatures heralded their presence with splashing, croaking, gobbling, grunting, chattering, and you guessed it – tweeting. Two birds began having a “conversation”. One to my right, high in an overhead branch, trilled excitedly. Then one on my left near the ground in the bulrushes, responded in kind. Soon they were excitedly communicating with one another in melodious song.

Then the excitement passed and their pace slowed down. Soothing tweets filled the air lulling me into sleep filled with an awareness of my oneness with nature, filled with a sense of connection to something much larger than myself. Just before nodding off, I felt that peace that passes all understanding that is pure gift from God. Feelings of “all’s right with the world” enveloped me, hugged me in warm embrace.

The depth of that oneness with creation, and all God’s creatures, will stay with me a long time. When I’m tempted to become embroiled in the circus created by a 24-hour news media, I remember the stark contrast between real tweets and media tweets, bringing to mind a meal blessing I am currently teaching our 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter: